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Marks the beginning of recorded communication. Cuneiform writing on clay allowed knowledge, trade, and law to be preserved beyond oral memory. This is the birth of the "book" (manuscripts) as a physical information storage medium!
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c. 3000 BCE - 1000 BCE Papyrus enabled longer, more portable texts than clay tablets. The scroll format standardized administrative, religious, and literary records~ Expanded use of texts beyond simple audits. Egypt became the center of early book production, foreshadowing later library systems such as Alexandria.
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c. 1400 BCE - 400 CE
Wax tablets were small, reusable wooden frames coated with wax that would be inscribed with a stylus and smoothed for reuse. They served as tools for education, accounting, and personal use. Because they were compact and easy to reuse, wax tablets represented an early step toward the idea of a personal, portable "book." They also foreshadowed the concept of interactive and revisable text - a precursor, in spirit, to modern tablets and digital note taking! -
c. 1000 BCE - 400 BCE Parchment was found to be far more durable and flexible than papyrus, allowing it to be reused (know as palimpsests) and to have greater longevity. It spread across the Mediterranean and supported expanding bureaucratic and scholarly writing systems.
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c. 100 CE - 400 CE
This was when bound pages replaced the scroll. The codex made reading easier and allowed reference and annotation. Early Christians popularized this form of scripture, and by 400 CE the codex had largely replaced the scroll in Europe. -
c. 105 CE - 900 CE
Paper, first developed under the Han Dynasty, was cheap and easier to produce than parchment. Its spread through trade routes (via Samarkand, Baghdad, and Moorish Spain) transformed the economics of writing and made books more accessible. -
c. 400 CE - 600 Ce
Monks copied and illuminated manuscripts by hand, preserving religious and classical works through the medieval period. books became symbols of sacred learning and cultural continuity during times of political instability. -
c. 800 CE - 900 CE
Entire pages were carved into wood and printed on paper. The Diamond Sutra (868 CE) is the oldest known dated printed book. This was humanity's first true form of mass text production~ -
Bi Sheng's innovation allowed reusable, moveable characters, increasing printing efficiency. Even though it was limited by the large number of Chinese characters, this invention introduced the principle of movable type!
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c. 1230 CE - 1377 CE
Korean printers created moveable metal type, used for the Buddhist text Jikji, which predates Gutenberg's Bible by over 70 years. This shows that movable-type printing was an international development, not only a European one! -
c. 1440 CE - 1455 CE
Gutenberg's innovations in press design, oil-based in, and metal type revolutionized book production. The Gutenberg Bible (c. 1455) symbolizes a turning point in human communication, leading to literacy expansion, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution! -
c. 1470 CE - 1600 CE
Printing presses established in Venice, Paris, Nuremberg, London, and beyond. The book trade emerges; universities and libraries flourish. Literacy rates rise, and printed vernacular texts empower cultural and political revolution. -
c. 1650 CE - 1800 CE
The rise of coffeehouses, pamphlets, and newspapers encouraged public debate. Books became tools of political change and education, helping shape revolutions in American and France. Copyright and censorship laws begin to form. -
c. 1800 CE - 1900 CE
Steam-powered presses, machine-made paper, and stereotype plates made books cheap and abundant. Literacy became widespread, and genres like the novel and newspaper flourished. Publishing became a global industry. -
c. 1890 - 1920
In reaction to mass production, figures like William Morris founded presses emphasizing design, typography, and craftsmanship (e.g., Kelmscott Press). The book was reimagined as both art object and cultural artifact. -
c. 1930 - 1970
Inexpensive paperbacks made reading accessible to all classes. Academic presses and commercial publisher expanded, shaping modern literacy cultural and education. Books became both cultural goods and consumer products. -
c. 1970 - 1990
Computers changed how books were written, edited, and designed~ Authors could self-edit and experiment with layout; publishers adopted digital workflows, setting the stage for e-books. -
c. 1990 - 2010
The rise of the internet, tablets, and devices like the Kindle (2007) transformed distribution and access. Books became instantly shareable, searchable, and customizable, shifting from physical ownership to digital access. -
c. 2010 - Present
Print and digital are now coexisting. Self-publishing platforms (Amazon Kindle Direct, Wattpad) democratize authorship. Open-access publishing challenges traditional models, and the "books" evolves into interactive, multimedia forms. -
c. Present - Future
The concept of the "book" continues to expand. Interactive storytelling, audiobooks, and AI-assisted writing may reshape what reading means, continuing to the journey from "table to tablet" that Galbraith describes.